CHAPTER XXIV. 



EXT morning, after partaking of ;i good breakfast - 

 I started out for Stony Mountain, ten miles north- 

 west of Winnipeg. Four miles west of Winni- 

 peg I left the highway and struck out across the 

 plain towards a wooded district. Here I found a num- 

 ber of nests of small birds, and obtained some fine sets 

 of the kingbird. 



I flushed a white-throated sparrow off its nest and four 

 -ggs. The nest was built on the ground at the root of a bush, 

 and was composed of fine grasses. The eggs are not unlike 

 those of the song sparrow, but they an- a trifle larger and 

 more glossy. The ground colour is greenish grey, and they 

 arc well spotted and blotched with burnt umber and lilac, 

 averaging in si/e 8^x60. On July 18th, 1891, I found a nest 

 and four eggs of this bird at Niagara Falls on the Canadian 

 side. This nest was built in a bush, two feet above the 

 ground: the eggs were very handsome, but, on trying an 

 with a drill, I found that incubation was advanced, so I left 



tile rest, 



In crossing from one bluff to another, I came across a nest 

 of the prairie shore lark containing five eggs ; incubation had 

 commenced, so I did not molest them. Soon afterwards I 

 startled a western night hawk off its two eggs, which were 

 fresh, so I took them. The eggs were laid on dead leaves, with 

 no signs of a nest, 



I saw a golden-Crowned kinglet and carefully searched every 

 tree in the bluffs in hopes of finding its nest, but in this 1 was 

 not successful. The golden-crowned kinglet is a beautiful 

 little bird, and its nest is an elegant piece of bird architee- 

 tui-e. lie fop- me are eight nests of the gold crest from Kurope, 

 they are made of green moss and lined with feathers. The 

 nests are pensile, being suspended from the overhanging 



